


Epiphanies in G-Sharp Minor

by Fauxrest



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Talentswap (Dangan Ronpa), Gen, can be read as platonic, it isn't so much a concrete story as an exploration of a hypothetical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 01:16:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15232173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fauxrest/pseuds/Fauxrest
Summary: The Ultimate Pianist Kokichi Oma and the Ultimate Inventor Shuichi Saihara hold a strategy meeting to the sound of La Campanella. [Talentswap AU; set after Chapter 3 with different deaths.I would not recommend reading this if you do not know the full story of Danganronpa V3.]





	Epiphanies in G-Sharp Minor

**Author's Note:**

> This is by no means needed to understand the fic, of course, but I’ll leave you with a link of someone playing Liszt’s La Campanella anyway. It’s a very pretty song, and is apparently infamous for its difficulty. (I spent some time trying to pick a song that would fit Kokichi in some way; I hope I succeeded.)
> 
> Would Pianist!Shuichi and Inventor!Kokichi make a lot more sense for their canonical roles than the other way around? Yes. Is that part of why I did it the other way around? Also yes.

* * *

“Night-time” had officially started a few hours ago. Kokichi had heard it, even over Der Flohwalzer—a piece he would normally play with all the enthusiasm he could muster for the valiant cause of annoying anyone in the immediate vicinity who was doing _anything_ that required their attention, although recently, he had taken to using it for a slightly different reason—but he also knew that Shuichi and Kaito were finishing their “exercise” session with Maki Harukawa soon, and he had two reasons to care about that.

Firstly, the third trial had been a red flag that should have told everyone not to trust Maki Harukawa, and yet those two idiots who were having friendly outings every night with her seemed to blindly trust the antisocial Ultimate Child Caregiver—was that even her real talent? She had been reticent about the details of it, and unlike the other Ultimates, her outfit didn’t reflect much of anything. She was by far one of the most suspicious characters in the group, but Shuichi seemed to refuse to consider the possibility of a mastermind after what happened when he mentioned it before. In truth, it was mostly Kaito that led the “blind faith” crusade—that obnoxious _moron_ had far less sense than Shuichi—but the inventor had blindly clung to that brash idiot since the events of the first trial, and Kokichi wasn’t sure he liked the way Kaito had been influencing him.

Second: the Ultimate Inventor was an invaluable asset for his talent, and on top of that, he had proven himself to be the most useful character during investigations and class trials so far. With the Ultimate Detective becoming the first victim, that was ever more important. Shuichi was the most fun to mess with, too, and Kokichi greatly enjoyed watching the other boy’s attempts to figure out the mechanisms behind Kokichi’s thought process. That was one way Shuichi really did seem to fit his title.

For the Ultimate Inventor, Shuichi wasn’t very inventive. Kokichi had expected the quiet, shy boy with the hat to be secretly some sort of weirdo who kept to himself only to hide his idiosyncrasies; for some reason, the idea that he might truly just be an introvert with low self-esteem hadn’t crossed his mind the first time they met.

Other people couldn’t be trusted—especially under these circumstances—but Kokichi had confidence in himself, and he could detect a liar. Therefore, after the first trial had gone by, he concluded that Shuichi was not one.

So what was he?

Well... he was interesting, at least.

And so, Kokichi passed the time by alternating between practicing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and Clair de Lune during the night, when the moon could be seen through his lab’s window; he was periodically looking there anyway.

He was, however, starting to get very bored of sitting still and playing without an audience by the time the three alleged “companions” finished their night-time rendezvous. He switched back to Der Flohwalzer, and just as he predicted, exactly one set of agitated footsteps could soon be heard coming up the stairs. Shuichi, for some reason, seemed exceptionally bothered by the song. (“What, did your lover die while this was playing or something?” Kokichi had asked once. Shuichi had actually laughed, in his quiet, subdued manner, so that theory was sunk.)

When the door opened, Kokichi stopped abruptly, only pausing for a moment before he decided to play _La Campanella_ with all the intensity the piece called for. That was one song where he absolutely couldn’t look away from the piano, and the exaggerated movements of his hands and body were actually needed if he wanted to play to his standards, with his small stature, to put the optimal amount of emphasis on the loud notes and reach the entire piano.

Shuichi was silent until the pianist finished with all the dramatic flourish he could put into the two loud chords that came at the end of the song. Was that out of courtesy, or genuine enjoyment? Kokichi wished he could have seen the other boy’s expression while he was playing, but when he turned around to face him, he smirked; Shuichi had his hand on his chin in thought, as if he were trying to decipher some sort of message being sent with the piece. That was especially funny because, for once, Kokichi hadn’t meant anything by it; he just wanted to show off his playing.

“That… was really nice.” Good. Kokichi was worried he wouldn’t comment on it. That would have been disappointing. “But,” Shuichi continued, “why do you always play that other song when you want my attention? Can’t you just come and talk to me, like anyone else would?”

“Nope! Well, I could, but this is more fun,” Kokichi said with a grin. He leaned away from the piano, putting his hands behind his head for support and enjoying the company. This time, he was completely honest.

The two sat in silence for the next few minutes—Shuichi probably waiting for an explanation from Kokichi as to what he wanted to talk about—but that pleasant moment couldn’t continue for long and, frankly, wasn’t normally Kokichi’s style at all. In the interest of keeping in-character with his outward persona, he started playing the same piece again with a slightly more subdued ‘voice’—tempo, volume—and spoke over it, keeping his eyes trained on the piano.

“Kaede mentioned seeing a little black bug,” Kokichi offered. Shuichi didn’t immediately answer. Kokichi started improvising to extend the softer part of the song as he waited, and finally caught a slight nod out of the corner of his eye. “So,” he continued, “now that you have your lab open, I need you to build me something.”

“Ah… right. Rantaro said something like that too, didn’t he? I suppose you want me to make something to detect them...?”

“Hmm, good guess! But no! Try again, Mr. Inventor,” Kokichi said as he played a high-pitched trill on the piano.

“Wait, why are you making me guess this?! _You’re_ the one that wants _my_ help… and why do you need such a thing, anyway? I hope this isn’t for some sort of prank…”

Kokichi huffed. “Aw, I thought you stopped suspecting me by now. Guess I was wrong.” Shuichi certainly _should_ be suspecting him, he thought, and probably more than the boy seemed to be. Out of everyone, Shuichi was one of the only people who tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, and even then, Kokichi would normally push him away. If there were exceptions, they would be the conversations between the two in Kokichi’s research lab. Even then, Kokichi reminded himself, he was only using Shuichi in the end. He only needed to convince Shuichi to use his talent as an inventor when it was needed. Any trust built up might need to be broken later, anyway.

“It’s not that,” Shuichi said before the pianist could ruminate further. Kokichi just happened to play a particularly energetic part of the music when he heard that; it got louder in the room, briefly. Shuichi spoke over it, explaining, “I want to trust you, Kokichi. But honestly, I don’t think you want to be trusted. You’re not exactly doing much to open up to me.” Hmm.

“Are you suuuuure about that, Shuichi? All this time, I’ve been trying to reach out to you! You just wouldn’t take my hand…” Kokichi said, as the song reached its crescendo. He went back to improvising. Moving his hands like this was the way to get through conversations that required his full attention. He couldn’t keep letting his thoughts spiral like this; he just had to focus more on his playing.

The other boy faltered. “I… uh…”

“Nee-heeheehee! Just kidding! Brainless people like Kaito are the ones so intent on trusting people in a killing game like this. He’s such a bad influence on you, Shuichi. I wasn’t lying when I said I needed that invention, though. It’s not for a joke. Just make, like, a vacuum for them, or something. You’re an Ultimate, so you can at least do that, riiiiight?”

“Then will you please tell me what it’s for?” Shuichi pleaded over the music.

This was getting frustrating. People had _always_ done what Kokichi wanted in the past, but with only other Ultimates around him, it was no longer as easy to get authority over other people. He would definitely never, ever compromise, though. So he brought the song to a dramatic halt and flung his legs over the piano bench, turning to stare straight at the other boy. He raised his finger to his mouth and forced his face into a conspiratorial smile. Shuichi recoiled. “If you want to know that, then you’ll have to make it for me first. If you do that, maybe I’ll tell you. Or maybe not. It all depends on your performance!” 

That would get him. If Kokichi had to pick one thing about Shuichi that matched the talent of Ultimate Inventor, it was the boy’s thorough determination to understand the things around him. That was what made him so useful in trials, and so fun to tease. It was also the best way to manipulate him. “By the way, I drew up a blueprint already. It’s in the pile of sheet music by the door.”

—

Shuichi stood at the entrance to his lab. He hated it. So far, all the other labs had been tailored to suit the students. The black-and-white marble tiles around the perimeter of the Ultimate Pianist’s research lab were shaped to resemble piano keys, perfectly mirroring the design on Kokichi’s scarf; the floor of that room was littered with scattered sheets of music and bizarre, childlike gadgets strewn chaotically around it, all somehow pertaining to piano mechanisms or musical notation, which were very obviously catering to the eccentric personality of its owner more than the talent itself. Shuichi couldn’t help but want to pick apart some of those gadgets. One in particular had caught his eye—what looked like a stereotypical pair of walkie-talkies at first glance, which appeared to be used to record and transcribe music—but Kokichi had actually handled that one a few times, and Shuichi didn’t want him to find it missing from the room. Other labs had been more subdued, depending on the personalities of the people that occupied them.

Meanwhile, Shuichi’s research lab felt as if it were designed specifically to remind him of everything he despised about his talent and the way he earned it. It was perfectly sterile, yet cluttered with bookcases of textbooks and cabinets of materials; the latter included several floor-to-ceiling glass cases of chemicals, some of which he knew to be dangerous. The invention that had brought him fame was nowhere to be seen, thankfully, but there were lab coats and goggles and a menagerie of other equipment to remind him of the time he spent working on it. The lab was absolutely full of dangerous objects. It was the perfect condition for working on the blueprints Kokichi had left for him.

He hurriedly gathered the materials and tools he needed in a bag and towed them back to his dormitory room.

**Author's Note:**

> So. This was something I wanted to avoid posting until I could actually give it some kind of closure, but honestly, it's been preventing me from continuing my other fic. I have more written, but this was the closest to a stopping point. Sorry. RIP. I don't know if I'll write more or not. I hope this is somewhat interesting as-is.


End file.
